Wonder how long its been going on. There is an elevation in cancer rates in areas downwind from it.

Cancers among residents downwind of the Hanford, Washington, plutonium production site.

A community-based health survey for the time
period between 1944 and 1995 was collected from 801 individuals who had lived downwind of the U.S. plutonium production facility located in Hanford,
Washington. The results of the survey revealed high incidences of all cancers, including thyroid cancer. There were greater than expected numbers of
central nervous system tumors and cancers that invaded the female reproductive system (e.g., cancers of the uterus, ovary, cervix, and breast).

Hanford has been leaking for years, since 1996 at least. I worked for an organization based in Seattle that had been taking Ariel photos of a stream
of waste making it's way toward the Columbia basin. The attorneys I worked for that had been trying to hold the feds responsible got no where, and
nothing happened after GE was awarded the management contract. I doubt anything will happen now.

It includes a list of news articles relating to Hanford dating back to January of 2010. Many interesting, and disturbing, reads. I had no idea until
today that this place even existed.

One of the links goes to a .pdf showing 10 facts
that may change the way you think about Hanford. I strongly suggest reading that.

A couple of examples from that .pdf:

4. Hanford’s reactors pumped billions of gallons of radioactive water into the Columbia River making it the “hottest” river in the world
during production. Over one and a half trillion gallons of contaminated liquids were also dumped directly into the soil, equivalent to several weeks
flow of the Columbia River.

8. Pollution has travelled far from the site. In 1964, a Scripps Oceanographic Research Team detected the radioactive chemical, zinc-65 8,000
times higher than normal in shellfish and squid at Cannon Beach, Oregon, 365 miles from the site. Hanford radionuclides have been detected in the
Puget Sound.

The recently discovered 150-300 gallons leaking from this one container per year may not sound like much, may just be Insley's "no immediate
threat"...but these stories dating back decades tell a different story.

Thanks for bringing this to light OP. SnF. I don't think they stabilized any of those tanks in 2005. This is one of the most horrid things. I have
never figured out why in the heck they put this sh#t so close to waterways. Here are some more facts on Hanford. I realize it's a lot of text but
people need to know what's going on, on the West Coast.

•Hanford is the most contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere and the world's largest environmental cleanup project.
•The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is owned by the federal government and operated by the US Department of Energy (USDOE).
•Cleanup at Hanford is a monumental task estimated by USDOE to cost at least $60 billion and take decades to complete.
•The Hanford Reach (the part of the Columbia flowing through Hanford) is the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River where tens of thousands
of salmon spawn each year. The Hanford Reach was designated as a national monument in 2000.
•Sixty percent (by volume) of the nation's high-level radioactive waste is located at Hanford.
•More than 67 metric tons of plutonium were produced at Hanford, contributing to a global stockpile of nuclear weapons that peaked in the mid-1980s.
•Fifty-three million gallons of high-level radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 huge underground tanks. One third of these aging tanks
are known to have leaked more than a million gallons of waste.
•At least 200-square miles of groundwater beneath the site is contaminated and migrating to the Columbia River. An estimated 80-square miles are
contaminated above drinking water standards.
•Approximately 1900 waste sites have been identified at Hanford.
•Radioactive and chemical contaminants released from Hanford and other weapons production sites across the nation have caused death and illness,
including cancer from radiation and lung disease from beryllium exposure. In 2000, the USDOE acknowledged that workers at nuclear weapons plants may
have been made ill, and those who suffered deserved to be compensated. Since then, thousands of claims have been filed.
•Nearly 80 percent of the USDOE's national inventory of spent fuel rods was stored in basins just 400 yards from the Columbia River. The USDOE has
moved the disintegrating fuel rods to a central location away from the river, but high-level radioactive debris remains in the basins.
•The USDOE wants to import as much as 200,000 cubic meters of additional waste from around the nation to Hanford. This could double the amount of
radioactive waste left at Hanford.

Another reason to NOT support nuclear power (in it's current state). There are so many nuclear power advocates who seem to blindly support this
"clean" energy without doing the research and finding out that this nuclear waste stuff does not go away for thousands of years.

... And as usual, the status quo marches forward. We are (imo) on the edge of an "adapt or die" cliff. I think many will blindly go off the cliff
very soon.

Originally posted by amkia
In the meanwhile…….There is talks about "irresponsible and dangerous" nuclear Iran.

Funny as hell...

Yep, hypocrisy is the way of maintaining the status quo, sadly, and is accepted laughably, with tears. The agenda is first mentioned, then
manipulated, and then manifested into reality. The people are starting to catch on though, thankfully. The modus operandi has been repeated too many
times for some to ignore, and at the same time, the first time for many people ignorant to how cointelpro works, or even what it is.

There has been an upsurge of cancer downwind of Hanford for the past half century. "Downwinders" they're called. My mother was one, and possibly
my fathers mother, as well. My own brush with cancer, though much less likely, could be connected.

But what the hey, Gov. Insley, in all his infinite wisdom, says there is no immediate danger... Really, guv? Really??? Where the hell have you been
for the past half century, or so? Medical history says otherwise. These tanks have, possibly, been leaking for some ten years, maybe more.

Hanford has been leaking for years, since 1996 at least. I worked for an organization based in Seattle that had been taking Ariel photos of a stream
of waste making it's way toward the Columbia basin. The attorneys I worked for that had been trying to hold the feds responsible got no where, and
nothing happened after GE was awarded the management contract. I doubt anything will happen now.

Very sorry to hear about how nothing is being done. If anything more people can be aware of the risks of living "too close", not even addressing the
leak into the Columbia River. The governor should be addressing the health concern of past leaks not pushing it to a later concern.

Judging by the people I've came n contact with(especially a child, mentioned before on ATS)or have heard of that have cancer, -more lately-etc. from
growing up in the area, I suggest if at all possible stay clear to even move if you can further from that part of the Tri-Cities or beyond. Possibly
even research into use of potassium-iodide (KI) supplements, or “thyroid blockers".

Inslee just announced that there are 6 underground tanks leaking. How could there possibly be no threat to the public when the burial sites are in
relatively close proximity to the largest underground water source in North America?

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